


Never Kill A Boy on the First Date

by Soupe



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1990s, Alternate Universe - Buffy The Vampire Slayer Fusion, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Buffy the Vampire Slayer References, Emo!Ben, F/M, First Dates, First Time, Fluff and Angst, Loss of Virginity, Minor Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Minor Poe Dameron/Finn, Mistaken Identity, One Shot, Slayer!Rey, Supernatural Elements, Two Shot, author calls nine inch nails "angsty incel music" and isn't sorry about it, closer by nine inch nails features a lot because i secretly love it, one shot that got out of hand, there's vampires and magic spells and demonic hellbeasts and old books, this started off very light and fun and then turned into real plot in part two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:33:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25062418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soupe/pseuds/Soupe
Summary: Like any high school senior, Rey is uncertain of her future. Unlike any high school senior, she's also a vampire slayer.As she begins to track a new vampire through town, Rey needs to remember one thing: never kill a boy on the first date.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	1. Cemetery Boy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Elizabethtudor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elizabethtudor/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _In every generation there is a chosen one._

_She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness._

_She is the slayer._

The cemetery was quiet that night, but Rey knew that didn’t mean she was alone.

After a few years of training, experience, and natural ability, she knew how to stalk those that stalked the night. Being the Slayer was a big responsibility—and not one that she took lightly. As much as she was like any other teenager in Sunnydale, California (established in 1909, human population 38,500, and highest demon population per-capita in the United States), partying occasionally, skipping class every once in a while, she still took her role as the chosen one very seriously.

While she maybe spent more time practising her sword skills or her aim with a set of throwing knives and not enough time studying, she managed her grades well enough. Luke, the Watcher placed with her by the Council when she presented as the newest Slayer in her Freshman year of high school, often chided her for that, insisting that she needed to find an appropriate balance, but she knew he had a soft spot for her and would ultimately let some things slide. School paled in comparison to a fight for life and death.

As much as she enjoyed having fun and goofing off, being the Slayer was important to her. As an orphan, the revelation that she had a purpose and potentially, hopefully a place to belong had meant everything to her. She looked to Luke for guidance and in many ways, he was more of a father to her than her state-appointed guardian—though she’d never admit it out loud. Even if Luke was gruff and a little jaded. He wasn’t the easiest man to understand or get along with at first, but Rey wore him down. He still had that gruff exterior, but she knew that even if he was a little disenchanted with the Watchers Council, he was always dedicated to guiding and supporting her. As much as he nagged about her duties as both the slayer and a student.

The largest of those duties being the slaying part—patrolling the cemeteries and other local supernatural hotspots for the evil undead.

Making her way carefully through the trees at the edge of Sunnydale’s largest cemetery (there were twelve in total, this town was a hotbed for “mysterious deaths”), Rey swept her eyes across the gravestones and unkempt shrubbery, keeping an eye out for freshly dug graves, displaced earth, footprints, blood, anything abnormal that would indicate vampires (or any supernatural being) were nearby.

Then she spotted him.

A tall, dark figure, wiping dirt from his hands as he walked from a grave. She didn’t get a good look at his face, but his appearance screamed vampire. He wore what looked like an old pilot’s jacket and combat boots. Typical of an older vampire, sporting the fashion of a bygone era, not knowing how to blend in. Emerging from the trees, she crept out of the shadows to follow him. He was about thirty feet ahead of her, appearing to simply be taking a stroll through the cemetery. He didn’t seem to have a destination in mind, hands in his pockets and head hung as he looked at his feet.

Rey drew a stake from inside her jacket, but before she could catch up to the vampire in front of her, she felt another presence emerge directly behind her. Without missing a beat, she spun, throwing her leg out into a crescent kick, striking the unsuspecting attacker in the head. His face was contorted, fangs exposed, a growl emitting from his chest. Definitely a vampire.

While he was stunned by her attack, Rey threw another kick at him, landing the blow at his stomach and knocking him back several paces. As he ran toward her again, she threw her arm forward, her stake sinking into his chest. The vampire turned to dust in front of her and she spun around to finish off the figure she’d been following. But he was long gone. Not a sign of him anywhere.

Rey swore, hating to let one get away. She didn’t enjoy failure, she worked too hard to fail. And she knew Luke would have some choice words for her when they recapped in the morning.

And she was right.

“We’ve talked about this before, Rey,” Luke said to her in the library the next day with a shake of his head. He didn’t even look up from the old tome he was flicking through.

She sat slumped over the table, her cheek resting on her hand in dejection.

“You can’t allow yourself to be distracted. That’s how mistakes are made, that’s how you get sloppy.”

She sighed, used to Luke’s lecturing. She wasn’t sure she could find this vampire again, but she’d be damned if she didn’t try. One vampire could still cause a lot of damage in a town the size of Sunnydale.

“I know, I know. I’ll do extra patrolling this week. I’ll find him,” she promised, more to herself than to Luke.

Rey was good to her word. She would do extra patrolling that week—but not before she had some fun. Being a slayer was one thing but being a seventeen-year-old high school senior was another. She was dedicated to being the Slayer, but she also figured she’d earned a night off every once in a while.

While many of her classmates were sneaking out to go partying, Rey simply walked out the front door of her motel apartment at the Sunnydale Motor Inn, clad in skin-tight faux-leather pants, a draped halter top, and square-toed boots, her shoulder-length hair loose and wavy. Her make-up was simple, but the plum shade of lipstick was the statement piece.

Being an orphan and having run away from every foster home she’d had made for a difficult life. She had freedom—such as the freedom to come and go as she pleased—but at the cost of loneliness. When the Watchers Council found her, she was worried they worked for Child Services and were sending into another home. But they weren’t and they didn’t. Instead, they came to an agreement that Rey be afforded the same freedom she’d become accustomed to, in the form of room and board, while training and learning under Luke’s guidance to take the helm of the Slayer. They almost made her live with Luke, but neither she nor Luke felt that arrangement would work. Luke wasn’t particularly paternal and was far too serious to be around the clock, and as much as Rey longed for a family and a home, she wanted it to be on her own terms and not forcibly mandated by some secret occult council. None of her foster homes worked out for just that reason.

Entering the Bronze, Rey quickly spotted her friends. Rose was on the dancefloor with Kaydel, Finn, and Poe as a local band thrashed on stage and a loud pulsing beat vibrated through the building.

Rey hung back for a moment, watching her friends move together on the dancefloor, heads thrown back, grins on their faces, arms in the air.

Rey treasured each of them and was thankful that she had them in her life. She felt she owed the family she’d built in Sunnydale to being the Slayer, it’s what brought them into her life. As the Slayer, she finally felt like enough, like she was somebody. But as much as she felt like she belonged, in the back of her mind she wondered what would happen after graduation. People would move on, go to away to college, gets jobs, move out of state. No one wants to be stuck in Sunnydale forever, not everyone can handle crisis after crisis of supernatural proportions. And that fear fed on her insecurities more and more as graduation day approached.

Rose spotted her then still standing off to the side and waved her over enthusiastically, calling her name despite the noise smothering any sound. Rey shook off the anxious thoughts and felt her smile grow as she made her way through the throngs of people in the club. The music intensified and she joined their movements, feeling the music course through her. Grounding herself in the moment, she pushed her anxieties out of her mind. For now, she could enjoy a night with her friends.

After several dances and a couple drinks (non-alcoholic, despite the club being in the “bad” part of town near the docks and the railroad tracks, the Bronze did follow the law in some respects), Rey and her friends were seated near the stairs to the second-level catwalk. It was then that Rey realized she had lost track of Rose. She had gone to the bar for another drink—was it ten minutes ago, twenty? Rey couldn’t recall.

Turning back toward the bar, Rey scanned the line of patrons talking, drinking, flirting. And then she spotted her standing next to a redheaded boy—well, man. He seemed a little older, maybe a college student. They were standing pretty close, having what appeared to be a very amiable exchange. Another man beside them caught her eye suddenly. He was clearly there with the redhead. And he was clearly the vampire she spotted in the cemetery the other night.

He was wearing the same jacket and boots. A chain partially tucked into his shirt glinted in the lights from the stage. Rey was struck by how oddly handsome he was. His wavy dark hair framed his face, contrasting with his pale skin, with a strong nose defining his profile. It wasn’t abnormal for vampires to be attractive. That was part of their role as predators, to attract their human prey.

Rey quickly shook herself of those thoughts. If this vampire was out hunting with the redhead, she had to get Rose out of there. Without a word to her other friends, Rey jumped up from the table and made her way swiftly to the bar, but the crowd was thick with people and she knew she couldn’t barrel her way through them without causing a scene.

By the time she made it to Rose, the two vampires were gone.

“Rose,” she said with relief, grasping her shoulder.

“Hey, Rey!” Her smile slid from her face when she saw Rey’s expression, “What’s wrong?”

“Those two you were just talking to, where’d they go?”

“They said they were headed out, why?” Seeing Rey’s frantic face, it took her less than a second to realize. “Oh, no.”

They both ran. Bursting out of the backdoor of the club, stakes at the ready, they heard retreating footsteps exiting the alley. Turning, they spotted two figures—one with red-hair and one taller with longer dark hair—running out onto the street.

Looking down, they spotted a young woman lying on the pavement, blood dripping down her neck, where two puncture marks pierced her skin.

“Check on her, I’m going after them!” Rey called as she ran after the retreating vampires.

Rose crouched beside the girl and gave a sigh of relief that she was still conscious.

Rey’s boots hit the pavement hard as she sprinted into the street. Looking both ways, she swore in frustration. There were only a handful of people standing outside of the club smoking and laughing. No sign of the vampires.

Rey approached them with urgency. “Did you see some guys run out of the alley?” She made sure to hide the stake behind her back, not wanting to alarm them.

“Uh, yeah,” one of them replied, exhaling smoke. “A couple dudes came running out and went that way,” he pointed with the hand holding the cigarette toward the other side of the street.

Rey nodded her thanks and took off again. At the end of the street, she looked around but saw nothing. The streets were empty. This area of Sunnydale was rife with warehouses and old buildings—some abandoned and decaying. Plenty of hideaways for creatures of the night. But Rey didn’t have time to search for a needle in a haystack.

Turning back towards the Bronze, Rey clenched her fists. That was the second time this vampire had gotten away. And she was determined that there wouldn’t be a third.

* * *

Rey was growing frustrated with her friends as they re-convened in the library during lunch that Monday.

“I just don’t understand how a couple of average vampires gave you the slip so easily,” Finn said.

Rey gave him a look. Rose took notice and piped in “Well, maybe they’re not normal vampires, maybe they’re some kind of super stealthy vampires. Or they have extra powers like invisibility! Or teleportation! Or…” looking around at all of their dubious faces she stopped. “Okay, you’re right, too far.” She looked down at the table with some dejection. Rose was always ready to dive into theories and research the occult and she had a particular knack for it.

“No, you may be onto something, Rose,” Luke said as he considered her words, scanning the shelves in front of him for a particular book. “There could be some mutation, or maybe some magic that allows them to be stealthier, have enhanced abilities.” Excitement rose in his voice as he found the book he was looking for and began rifling through the pages.

“Vampires could be mutating now? Well, isn’t that just great,” Poe said with some dread.

“Let’s just go over what you noticed, Rose,” Rey interrupted. Speculation couldn’t help her until they had the facts.

“They seemed so normal to me,” she said, embarrassed. “They were nice. Huck, I think his name was. The redhead. He was kind of arrogant, but charming. His friend was really quiet, didn’t seem to want to be there. He definitely wasn’t interested our conversation or anyone else for that matter. I just assumed he was dragged along by his friend. And then Huck said they were leaving for some house party, and he asked if I wanted to come along,” she said with confusion. “When I said no, Huck just kinda shrugged it off. He seemed disappointed, but he didn’t try to lure me out to that alley.”

“Doesn’t sound like were trying very hard to eat you,” Poe noted.

Rose seemed almost put out by the idea. “I’m edible, aren’t I?”

“Yes, sweetie. You’re very edible,” Kaydel consoled her indulgently, patting her shoulder.

“That girl in the alley was close to death—I don’t think being edible is the goal here,” Luke reprimanded with a stern look.

“It had to be them though, they were the only ones in that alley, and they ran off leaving that poor girl there,” Rey concluded.

“I suggest we continue our research and you continue regular patrols, Rey. See if you can gather more information, maybe get close enough to track them to a den or lair.”

Rey tried her best to follow Luke’s advice that night, but it was hard to focus when Poe and Finn were goofing around. They would not stop flirting with each other, yet neither one seemed to realize it. They were each somehow oblivious to what appeared obvious to Rey.

“Don’t worry, Finn. I’ll protect you from the scary vampires.” Poe teased as he threw an arm around Finn’s shoulders.

Finn rolled his eyes, but Rey noticed the slight flush on his cheeks. And the fact that he didn’t remove Poe’s arm.

Rey was so distracted by Finn and Poe’s antics that she nearly missed the elusive vampire that escaped her twice now. He was walking down the path in front of them, the same as the first night she saw him, wearing that same jacket and boots.

Rey readied herself, arming herself with her favourite stake, and carefully began to approach, using the trees and bushes for cover.

She was certain she had him this time. Until Poe and Finn began laughing. Loudly.

The vampire’s head snapped up as he looked around himself. He began to pick up his pace and practically ran out of the cemetery. He looked spooked, which surprised Rey. Why would a vampire retreat at the sound of human laughter? What did he have to be scared of? Besides herself, she conceded.

But what kind of vampire is timid?

Rey found it difficult to sleep that night trying to make sense of this vampire. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why didn’t he behave like a typical vampire? How was she going to finally get rid of him? She refused to have this hanging over her head. She had enough to worry about as it was without some bumbling vampire getting the better of her.

These thoughts plagued her all night and throughout the next day at school. Which led to an extensive research session in the library, each of her friends struggling to find anything to explain this strange vampire’s behaviour.

Poe dropped his head into the tome in front of him. “I can’t make sense of any of this.” He was trying to translate an ancient dialect and it was not going well.

“I’m not having much luck here either,” Finn said. “I’m finding stuff about hypnotism, precognition, photographic memory, blue lightning powers of all things, but nothing about invisibility or stealth.”

“Oh! Here, I found something!” Kaydel called out from across the library with excitement. She stepped out of the stacks with a particularly old and decrepit book in her hands. “It says here that ‘Dracula, considered to be the one of the oldest and most powerful vampires ever created, had the enhanced ability to shapeshift.’” Kaydel’s voice became more and more dubious as she read. “’He is able to take the form of a bat, wolf, panther, swarm of bees, and mist…’”

Finn laughed. “Dracula isn’t real.” His smile quickly dropped as he looked around at the group. “Dracula’s not real, right?”

He turned to Luke, who had a grimace on his face. Finn nodded to himself. “Okay, Dracula is real. Great, okay. Does Bram Stoker know that?”

“What if it is shapeshifting?” Rose added. She then gasped and her eyes widened. “What if it’s Dracula? Did you see a wolf or a swarm of bees or some mist or anything?” She asked with increasing panic.

“No, no. Nothing. He was always very much in human form.”

Too soon, the bell rang, marking the end of their “study period”. They hadn’t gotten very far today and Rey had more patrolling to do that night.

Rey sighed. “It’s not much to go off, but maybe it’ll help with patrol tonight.” As she and her friends packed up their bags and made their way out of the library, Rey turned to Kaydel.

“You’re still joining me tonight, right?”

“Of course! As long as you promise to help me work on my sparring.”

Rey decided to stake out—pun intended—the same spot in the cemetery as before. She figured she spotted the vampire there twice before and third time’s the charm.

He was there before her.

But he wasn’t prowling or hunting or even scowling. He wasn’t doing anything Rey had ever seen a vampire do.

He was sitting under a tree, writing in a notebook.

While Rey was confused, she wasn’t going to let that throw her of course.

Before she could grab a weapon, she realized she wasn’t the only one watching him. His red-headed friend was there and was approaching him from behind.

She turned to Kaydel. “They’re here,” she whispered. “Pass me the crossbow.”

Kaydel nodded with a serious expression. She always treated patrol and combat with a degree of respect.

Approaching with a stake didn’t work out the first two times, so she figured attacking from a distance was the next step. And hopefully, the last.

She readied her crossbow with a bolt—soaked in holy water, for good measure—and took aim at the dark-haired vampire. He was now standing beside his friend.

Rey idly thought how odd it was she never saw these two with their demonic faces. No fangs, no pronounced brow ridges, no glowing eyes, but she quickly cast that thought out of her mind. She was determined to get rid of them once and for all.

Rey inhaled deeply as she prepared to pull the trigger.

She slowly began to exhale when she was startled by sound of a branch snapping from behind her. Rey jumped as the crossbow fired, her aim no longer aligned. The bolt sailed through the air, landing directly in the tree between the two vampires, mere inches from them both.

They turned toward where she and Kaydel were hidden on the edges of the cemetery with wide eyes. They looked at each other in confusion before quickly running in the other direction.

Rey had never encountered vampires who run from confrontation. But she didn’t let that stop her from giving chase.

Running after them she heard snippets of conversation.

“A crossbow?!” one said with exasperation.

“This town is so fucking weird,” the other replied, gasping between words.

She was so close, but not close enough. She stopped in her tracks to aim her crossbow, hoping in vain that she’s within range. She fired, but it sailed past them as they turn a corner.

“Fuck.”

Dropping her arm, Rey growled in frustration.

“How does this keep happening?” she called out, throwing her arms up in exasperation. How could she be the Slayer, the Chosen One, protector against evil and she couldn’t handle two cowardly vampires.

For the rest of the week there was no sign of them. Not in the cemetery, not at the Bronze, not in the industrial district, not in the forest—nowhere. What Rey did find instead was a litany of other supernatural creatures that she vanquished. She interrogated a few of them, demanded answers about a dark-hair vamp and his redheaded friend, but it yielded no answers. Either vampires had strong solidarity, or they really didn’t know these two nomads. Sunnydale was safe from up to fifty other creatures, but these two continued to allude her. She felt herself focusing too much on the dark haired one. He was still out there somewhere posing a threat to the town. Maybe he was onto her and was biding his time, hiding out in some underground lair. But he would have to resurface at some point soon, Rey was certain.

That weekend Rose’s sister Paige invited both Rose and Rey to a college party at UC Sunnydale. Rey hesitated to accept at first but realized this was the distraction she needed after weeks of researching obscure vampire lore, patrolling the spookiest locations in town night after night, and dead ends at every turn.

The house wasn’t hard to find. The loud, high-energy music could be heard from down the street where college students could be seen hanging out on front porches and wandering down sidewalks, laughing, drinking, stumbling, shouting. They were a rowdy bunch.

Entering the house and looking around, Rey couldn’t help but feel a little intimidated. Being a highschooler at a college party was out of her comfort zone—which was a peculiar feeling for someone who regularly stalked monsters at night. One would think the mundane would be a breeze, but social situations were another monster entirely.

She wasn’t facing this monster alone, though. She had Rose by her side.

And Rose’s sister Paige, who emerged from the crowds of people to welcome them.

“Look at you two!” she said, admiring their outfits. Rose wore a slightly cropped black long-sleeved peasant top with a plum miniskirt that hugged her curves and a pair of patent black boots. Beside her Rey wore a black mini dress with tall boots, her hair pulled up into a half-bun. Paige bumped her hip with Rose. “Let’s get you girls a drink.”

She led them to the kitchen where Rey immediately spotted him. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Vampire. She tensed in the doorway and stared. He was talking with his redheaded friend on the other side of the kitchen island as they sipped beers.

“Is a beer okay or do you want something else?” Paige asked her. Rey snapped out of her staring trance and turned to Paige who had a slight smirk and knowing look on her face.

She thought she was checking him out. And maybe she was, but not in the way Paige thought.

“Uh, beer is fine.” She didn’t really like beer, but she knew she wouldn’t be drinking it anyway, not with targets in sight. She would need to keep her wits about her. She caught Rose’s eye and they shared a look. With Paige’s back turned, she whispered her plan to Rose.

“You distract the redhead, I’ll take the other one. Just don’t go anywhere alone with him.” So long as they were in public, Rey wasn’t too worried about Rose.

“Got it.”

Paige handed them their drinks and was about to say something to Rey when they were interrupted by a rowdy group of Paige’s friends who wanted her to join them in the living room.

“You two are okay on your own for a minute, right?” she asked as she was pulled away.

They gave easygoing smiles and nodded as she was dragged off with her friends, leaving Rey and Rose to turn their attention toward the two vampires still standing at the kitchen island.

Rose took the lead, having met them the previous evening and generally being the more outgoing of the two.

“Hello, again,” she said, giving the redhead a flirtatious smile and leaning across the counter.

As Rose spoke with the redhead—Hux, she learned his name was—Rey couldn’t help but sneak glances at his friend. She tried to convince herself it was because he was the target, the vampire she was determined to kill, but she couldn’t help but notice the moles and frackles dotting his face, how alluring his whiskey brown eyes were, and how plush his lips looked.

She also couldn’t help but notice how awkward he was. Just like at the Bronze, he stood a little off to the side as Hux did all the talking. His arms were crossed as he leaned his hip against the counter, scanning their surroundings and occasionally trading quick glances with Rey. She watched his throat move more than once as he swallowed.

Rose made quick work of Hux and soon led him off toward the kitchen table where a couple drinking games were being played. Which left his quiet friend alone in the kitchen with Rey.

Neither of them had spoken a word through the whole exchange and Rey wasn’t used to feeling awkward in these situations. She always had a quip or a smile at the ready. She shook herself internally, refocusing on the situation at hand. Shifting from high school Rey to the Slayer.

“They seem to have gotten along quickly,” she noted, easing into the conversation.

“Yeah,” he nodded, not meeting her eyes. He looked down at his drink, but didn’t turn away from her.

“I’m Rey by the way. I don’t think I caught your name.”

“Ben,” he said, finally glancing up and holding out his hand.

They shook. His hand was cold. He cleared his throat and shifted his feet. Rey had never seen an awkward vampire before and was thrown off once more. She wasn’t sure how to proceed.

“I’m gonna head outside for a smoke,” he said suddenly. He met her eyes for a second and then looked away, hands in his jacket pockets. “Do you, uh, wanna join me?”

“Sure,” she said quickly. She wasn’t a fan of cigarettes, but this would get them alone and she’d have the perfect opportunity to stake him. She wouldn’t let a little thing like awkwardness get in the way of her job.

She walked around the island counter to where he stood, and they walked to the backdoor. He struggled with the door for a second before holding it open for her. Oddly polite for a vampire. Maybe he was still new to the whole bloodthirsty undead thing, she reasoned.

Walking ahead of him, she reached inside her jacket for her stake. She didn’t want to be caught off guard or be without a weapon should he immediately attack. She pulled it out and turned on him, pressing him up against the side of the house. Her stake sat poised at the middle of his chest, sharp point pressing between his ribs.

His eyebrows shot up his forehead over his now wide eyes and he held up his hands in surrender, his cigarettes and lighter falling to the grass below.

“Wha—,“ he tried to ask, but she cut him off with more pressure on the stake.

“How did you keep outrunning me?” she demanded. “Every time you and your friend disappeared before I could catch up and I’m pretty fast.”

His eyebrows now scrunched down in confusion. “Outrunning? What are you talking about?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” she insisted. Their faces were merely inches apart as Rey’s frustration grew. “The cemetery, the Bronze where you left that poor girl for dead. Everywhere I spotted you, you always got away. So, what are you? You have invisibility? Shapeshifting? What is it?”

Rey didn’t like losing and her competitive spirit sometimes got the better of her. Where she might have typically staked a vampire by now, she needed answers.

Ben’s mouth opened and closed as he tried to form a response to Rey’s angry and confusing interrogation. “I—you think—wait!” Realization lit up his eyes in the dark shadows of the house. “You… you think I’m a vampire?” he whispered urgently.

Rey simply stared at him. Vampires didn’t usually play dumb. This was usually the part where their faces contorted into a demonic grimace complete the sharp fangs and she got to punch them. Like every other interaction with Ben, she was at a loss of how to proceed. He was confounding.

“Uh, yeah,” she said simply, somewhat at a loss. She continued, trying not to lose the upper hand. “You lurk through the cemetery at all hours of the night, you dress like it’s 1975, you attacked a girl at the Bronze and ran off after, and here you are at a college party luring an innocent teenage girl outside.”

He stared at her with his mouth agape. And then he laughed.

It was a deep, heartfelt belly laugh. His shoulders shook and he eyes squeezed closed—he almost doubled over if it weren’t for her stake still poised at his chest. But it did bring his face even closer to Rey’s.

Rey was once more at a loss. Who was this guy?

“Wait. If you’re not a vampire, how do you know about them?”

Ben tried to reign in his laughter, but his shoulders still shook, and he exhaled a chuckle every couple of seconds. “My uncle. He taught me all about that stuff.”

“Your uncle?” she asked confused before shaking her head. “That doesn’t explain what I saw.”

He reigned in his laughter at this point and let out a sigh. “I was out at the cemetery because I have insomnia. Going on long walks helps and I…” He looked away then very quickly uttered “And sometimes I write poetry there.”

Now Rey felt entirely embarrassed by her assumptions, but she still needed more answers. “And at the Bronze?”

“Hux and I found that girl being attacked, and we chased after the vampire. We nearly had him, but he escaped into one of the warehouses. Probably for the best, we didn’t have any weapons anyway.” He shook his head at himself.

“Oh,” Rey said. Her muscles were no longer tensed for a fight, but she was still standing awfully close to Ben. With her stake pointed directly at his heart.

“Oh!” She stepped away quickly and dropped her arms to her side. “I’m sorry.”

Ben relaxed too and offered an awkward smile “It’s okay.”

They both stood there for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

“Rose!” Rey recalled suddenly. “I need to tell her Hux isn’t a vampire!”

“Right,” he nodded, picking up his lighter and cigarettes, he began following her back into the house. And then added “Though I think he might be a werewolf.”

Rey gave him an incredulous look. Ben simply smiled.

Rose and Hux were nowhere to be found and Rose wasn’t responding to her calls or texts. Rey was getting nervous, which was abnormal for her. She was always confident in a crisis, but everything was upside down tonight. She wasn’t sure who she was more nervous for—Hux, who Rose just might attack. Or Rose, who could be off with a strange man.

The thought made Rey’s blood run cold. She turned on Ben, her mouth set in a line.

“Is Hux trustworthy?”

Ben once more held up his hands in surrender. “He’s arrogant, but he’s not dangerous.”

Rey raised an eyebrow.

“I promise,” he said, with certainty. Rey may have been convinced Ben was a demon inhabiting a human body less than ten minutes ago, but she felt she could trust him.

“Maybe they left?” Ben suggested.

Rey nodded and they made their way toward the front door. “Let’s head out and look around the neighbourhood. Where would Hux go? Back to his dorm?”

Before Ben could answer, Rey opened the front closet door to find a startled Hux and Rose in a very intimate embrace. They pulled apart in surprise.

Rose smiled sheepishly, her lips swollen and red. “Uh, hey, Rey.”

Ben and Rey simply stared.

Hux cleared his throat after a moment. “Solo, if you don’t mind, we’re a little busy.” He raised an eyebrow and Rose’s grin widened.

“We’re gonna head out. Hux is walking me home,” Rose concluded, taking Hux by the hand and out the front door.

Rose winked at Rey on her way out. “I’ll text you,” she promised, giggling as she left.

Ben and Rey stood there for a moment.

“Huh,” Ben muttered.

“I should probably head out, too,” Rey decided. She wasn’t really in a partying mood anymore, though she didn’t want to say goodbye to Ben just yet.

“Right.” He nodded and glanced away.

Rey felt her face drop a little. “Right. Well—”

“Would you mind if I walked with you?” he suddenly asked.

Rey was surprised, but pleased. “Yeah, sure.” She tried not to be too excited.

They made their way out of the college campus and into the residential neighbourhood around the high school. Cutting through was the fastest way to get to the Motor Inn. Rey tried not to be embarrassed about their destination, but it was stuck in the back of her mind as they walked.

“You never explained why you dress like it’s 1975,” Rey realized. “Are you just into vintage fashion or…?”

Ben gave an awkward laugh.

“It’s… uh…” He struggled to find the words.

Rey quickly backtracked. “Sorry, that was rude.”

“No, it’s okay.” He said with a gentle, but sad smile. He took a moment to find the right words.

“I didn’t mention the other reason I visit the cemetery so much. My mother and I moved here a couple months ago after…” he cleared his throat before finishing. “After my father died.”

He began fiddling with the chain around his neck where a set of dog tags and two gold dice hung “They both grew up here and I was accepted to UC Sunnydale, so it made sense. He was an air force pilot, and these were his,” he said gesturing to his jacket and boots.

Rey felt guilt sink into the pit of her stomach as his story went on. She practically stalked this guy for days, nearly murdered him and his friend with a crossbow, and threatened him with s stake. She was really beginning to doubt herself as the Slayer.

Rey opened her mouth to beg for forgiveness, but Ben interrupted her.

“No, I know what you’re going to say. I understand your confusion, it’s okay. I’m just glad you seem to be bad at hunting vampires.”

Rey’s guilt evaporated and indignation ignited in its place, but she heard the teasing note in his voice.

“You don’t know who you’re talking to,” she scoffed. “And if anything, this proved I’m bad at hunting pale insomniacs.”

He smiled at her in return, showing off an imperfect smile that bloomed butterflies in her stomach.

“So, who am I talking to?”

“Your uncle taught you about this stuff, right? Did he ever mention the Slayer?” she asked with a raised brow.

His eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks.

“If you’re the slayer then…”

Rey looked at him in confusion. “If I’m the Slayer, what?”

Ben gave out a humourless laugh. “Then you know my uncle, too.”

Rey’s confusion deepened, her eyebrows scrunching together. “Who?”

“Your Watcher, Luke Skywalker.”

Rey’s mouth opened in surprise. “Luke is your uncle? He never mentioned anything to me…” she trailed off, realizing she actually knew very little about the gruff librarian beyond the professional.

“We don’t exactly get along,” he explained, his expression turning grim.

“This was after he taught you a thing or two about vampires, I assume?”

They resumed walking again as Ben answered. “As a result of it in fact. He pushed too hard. Wanted me to join the Watchers Council, tried to mold me in his own image.”

“How old were you?”

“I was sent to live with my uncle at the academy he taught at when I was eleven. My parents had very hectic careers. My mom was a Senator—she’s retired now—and my dad was always being shipped off to different military bases around the world. I was there until I was fifteen and I finally convinced my parents that it wasn’t a good fit.”

Rey felt a pang of sympathy. While Ben had a family—a successful, affluent one at that—he still seemed so alone.

“Sorry, that got a little heavy.” He forced out a smile, clearly uncomfortable with how much he’d shared.

“No, it’s okay. We can talk about something else. What are you studying at UC Sunnydale?” Rey asked, changing the subject to more comfortable topics.

“I haven’t declared my major yet, I’m still a freshman. But I’m leaning toward history.”

“Ah,” Rey feigned interest. She was a hands-on learner and preferred mechanics and engineering to the humanities.

“You’re still at Sunnydale High, right? What are you planning on studying in college?”

“Not sure yet,” Rey answered non-committedly. He had inadvertently touched on a bit of a nerve for her. As the Slayer, she had other responsibilities. Balancing those duties and her own aspirations was difficult enough in high school, she couldn’t image how it would fit into her life after graduation. Her future has never felt solid, the path of her life has never felt like it was in her control. Growing up without a family and then becoming the Slayer had done nothing but dictate her life in different ways.

Ben picked up on the shift in mood, but rather than change the subject or settle into awkward silence, he asked her about it.

“You don’t want to go to college?”

“It’s not that. It’s a bit more complicated. I have a lot of other responsibilities going on and just don’t know if I can manage it all.”

“It’s not like you need to decide your entire life right now.”

“No, but it feels like it.”

He nodded empathetically. “I know what you mean.” And Rey believed he just might.

They’d arrived at the Motor Inn and Ben seemed surprised that this was their destination, but he didn’t comment. He walked with her all the way to her apartment door where Rey turned to him and looked up. She hadn’t realized just how tall he was. Pressed up against him at the house, she was too concerned with him being a vampire than with his stature. Or his impressive build.

He was large and Rey was trying not to think about how much she liked it.

“Thanks for walking me home,” she said, trying not to stare at his wide shoulders or the hallow at the base of his throat.

“No problem. Thanks for not killing me.” He smiled his dimpled smile again.

Rey smiled back. “We should do this again some time. Maybe without the almost killing part.”

He seemed surprised, but pleased. His cheeks flushed and Rey spotted red colouring the tip of one ear that peaked through his hair.

“Uh, yeah, okay. Yes,” he said quickly.

“Can I get your number?” she asked.

He nodded quickly and scrambled to pull out his phone. They exchanged numbers and continued to stand in front of her door as a lull of silence slipped between them.

“Good,” he said.

“Great,” she replied with a small smile.

They had stepped closer together at some point and were now inches apart. Rey’s eyes flicked to his mouth, now at eye-level. Looking back up, Ben’s eyes were half-lidded as he gazed down at her.

“So, when are you free?” she asked, her voice quiet.

“How’s right now?” They continued to lean into each other, growing closer.

“Sounds good.” Rey closed the distance, pressing her lips to his slowly. Her hands came up to his chest, sliding up to his shoulders and around the back of his neck. His own hands came up to cradle her jaw.

Their bodies were pressed together as their mouth moved against each other. Rey sunk her hands into his soft hair as she pulled his face even closer to hers. One of his hands slid to her neck in response.

Rey wanted to live in this moment for as long as possible. After the adrenaline rush of cornering him outside the house party, this felt like slipping into a warm tub. She melted into his touch.

They pulled away to breathe and gazed at each other in a daze. They were still pressed together, hands in each other’s hair.

“Definitely not a vampire then,” Rey said, out of breath.

“What?” he laughed.

“Your pulse is very fast,” she replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Ben’s face broke out into the widest smile Rey had seen yet, his dimples becoming more pronounced.

They untangled themselves slowly and Ben wished her goodnight and promised to text her when he got home.

Rey unlocked her apartment and stood in the open doorway for a moment as he walked down the sidewalk to the parking lot entrance. There was a jaunt in his step she hadn’t seen before—and she had been watching him wander the cemetery all week.

He turned to look over his shoulder as before he turned the corner, wide grin still etched across his face. His face flushed once more as he waved goodbye.

Rey never wanted to stop seeing that smile and she’d be damned if she wasn’t going to make sure of it.

The following Monday morning found Rey grinning over her cellphone in the Sunnydale High library, texting Ben as she waited for the rest of her intrepid friends to meet up before the first bell.

Luke stepped out of his office and seeing Rey asked, “Any new leads?”

“Hmm?” Rey asked absentmindedly, only looking up after a moment.

“The vampire we’ve been hunting all week?” he asked, unimpressed with her memory lapse.

“Oh, about that. Turns out it was just your very human nephew. Nothing supernatural or evil at work.”

Luke looked surprised and confused, which was a difficult feat to accomplish.

“Oh,” he said, taking a sip of his freshly brewed tea.

“Yeah,” Rey began packing up her bag as the first bell rang. Her friends were evidently too late to meet up before first period. But before she left, she called out over her shoulder “And we’re dating now.”

She didn’t have to turn to know that his eyes widened even more. But she smirked as she heard him choke on his tea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to end here, but I wanted Rey and Ben to make out more.


	2. Graduation Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where what was supposed to be oneshot suddenly gains a plot and gets out of hand.

_In every generation there is a chosen one._

_She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness._

_She is the slayer._

Rey soon learned how proficient Ben was with a weapon. As it turned out, Luke’s training was pretty extensive. He volunteered to join her on patrols and while she was hesitant at first, he proved himself a good patrol partner very quickly.

While he kept her company on patrols, his unresolved issues with Luke meant he was reluctant to join up with her friends on bigger investigations. Especially, when Luke would doubtlessly be involved or present.

It was never explicitly said, but Rey knew that Ben did not want to be involved with Luke again, professionally or personally.

Ben recognized that Rey had found a mentor in Luke. Where his teaching methods isolated Ben and made him feel like a failure when he couldn’t meet his uncle’s high standards, Rey seemed to find guidance and support in his mentorship.

While that was something he never felt from his uncle, he tried not to be resentful. But he couldn’t help but feel a spike of envy at their relationship, as well as a lingering distrust that made him worry about Rey being so close with him. He was afraid of history repeating itself, only with Rey being the one hurt.

And perhaps enough time had passed since the academy for Ben to let it go or maybe Luke had actually changed. But Ben wasn’t ready to face either possibility.

This made it a little difficult for Rey and Ben to spend time with each other, but they made do.

Their first date after the house party was the following Saturday afternoon, a week later. As much as Rey would have loved to see him sooner, slaying came first, and she didn’t want to throw him in the deep end too soon. Patrolling through the cemetery to slay vampires wasn’t exactly the most romantic evening she could imagine. He may have been familiar with her responsibilities and strange lifestyle of studying for a history test by day and destroying the forces of evil by night, but it was early enough that Rey was a little scared of frightening him off. Yet even after threatening him with a stake, he was still hanging around.

Instead, their first date was a mundane affair: they met up for coffee at the Espresso Pump.

Entering the small café, she spotted him easily, his large frame dwarfing the chair he was seated in by the window. He gave a small smile when he spotted her, seemingly shy now. They’d texted constantly in the time between, but she’d been waiting in anticipation to actually see him again, too.

After the slightly awkward first few moments where neither was quite sure what to say, they quickly found their footing and were talking and laughing like they’d known each other their whole lives.

Rey didn’t usually feel so comfortable with someone so quickly. With her friends at school, it took weeks for her to let down her guard. Being a child of the foster system built interpersonal walls to begin with, adding the secrecy and danger of the slayer on top made friendships difficult to manage. She was so used to being let down and hurt by others and having to in turn let down others when she couldn’t allow herself to be fully honest.

After several coffees and pastries, Rey led Ben to her favourite bookstore down the street, Book Stew. On the walk over, their conversation flitted between the classes they were taking, the latest movies, town gossip, and everything inbetween.

But Rey felt a little distracted by Ben’s proximity. She was sure the caffeine didn’t help, it was like electricity in her veins. They walked close together, arms brushing every few steps. She was acutely aware of his height next to her. She wasn’t short by any means, but she felt tiny next to him. It wasn’t an intimidating presence, either. It was comforting. She felt nervous, this being her true first date, but safe. Like she didn’t need to worry about the many dangers that surrounded her, both mundane and supernatural. His deep voice and soft tone did wonders as well.

Before she knew it, she was leaning into his side even more as they walked and she listened to his voice as he spoke. She was listening more to the sound than the actual words. The back of their hands brushed together as they continued down the sidewalk. Rey’s twitchy caffeinated hand immediately moved to link their fingers. As she did, she heard him pause in the middle of his sentence for a beat, before continuing, a smile evident in his voice. Glancing at him, she saw a blush across his cheeks and the smile she heard. She couldn’t help but feel a pleased smile spread across her face in return.

In the bookstore, they browsed the shelves, showing off books they liked, pulling out interesting titles. Ben pulled out a copy of _Dracula_ from the shelves with a comically raised eyebrow, silently asking if she was interested. Rey rolled her eyes with a smile. Eyebrows still raised, he shook his head mouthing “No?”. He then pulled out a copy of _Twilight_ with that same jokingly sincere expression. This she outright laughed at and he smiled in response, showing off the laugh-lines in his cheeks.

Ben tried to convince her to buy the novel _Dune_ , but Rey knew she would never have the time, nor much of the inclination if she was honest (700 pages of dense sci-fi lore wasn’t quite her cup of tea). Instead, she picked up a few graphic novels—some at Ben’s recommendation. In turn, Ben took Rey’s advice and bought a lovely edition of The Princess Bride.

Ben then led her to his favourite spot in Sunnydale, the music store above the book shop, Big Ear Records. They browsed the CD racks, 8-track displays, and the vinyl shelves, finding obscure indie bands from the local music scene, classic rock staples, and the top-40 pop hits in equal measure.

Big Ear Records had an old-school listening booth, which Rey led Ben into at his reluctance. She wanted to listen to what he’d picked out. It was at that point that Rey found out Ben was into industrial rock. After listening to the first few songs of the Nine Inch Nails album he picked out, Rey didn’t hate it—it was a little jarring, both full of abrasive noise and quiet whispers. She was a little put off by the amount of times pigs were mentioned. But when they got to the steady beat of the fifth track Closer, a song she had heard before, she raised her eyebrows at him. He looked a little bashful about it, but there was a glint in his eyes that said something else.

Rey couldn’t say she disliked it. The look in his eyes or the song.

After listening through just half of the album, Rey described it as “angsty music for horny, angry dudes,” which left Ben flushed and fumbling for a response.

Ben then insisted they listen to her picks and in so doing discovered she was into Britpop, an inevitable result of being English, she claimed.

“How did you end up in California?”

Rey knew this conversation would need to happen eventually. “I don’t know. I’m an orphan.” She tried to be casual about it. She was mostly over it, she had been convinced her parents would come back for her for many years, leading her to do everything to maintain her one connection—her Englishness. It wasn’t until adolescence that she grew angry and resentful. At her parents and at the world, which led to the many time she ran away from her foster placements. She gave Ben the short version.

She shrugged casually. “I was found in a campground by myself when I was five.” She continued to examine the vinyl sleeve of the album in front of her, but felt Ben slip his hand into hers.

“You’re not alone, Rey.”

She looked up then. “Neither are you.”

They listened to her favourite songs by Pulp and Blur and Rey even managed to convince Ben to buy her favourite Oasis album. He made sure to play it any time she came over to his dorm. Along with a little Nine Inch Nails, which Rey grudgingly admitted she liked.

On their second date, another week later, they were browsing the Magic Box, collecting supplies for an incantation Rey needed to perform that night with Rose, who had been slowly mastering the art of witchcraft. Ben offered to help, having extensive training and experience.

And that’s where they ran into Luke.

They had turned a corner around the tall shelves of the shop and there he was, examining a set of crystals. It was the first time Ben and Luke had seen each other in three years.

Ben’s eyes widened when he saw his uncle, before he closed himself off and his gaze became guarded.

“Ben,” Luke said in greeting. He was hesitant, unsure of how his nephew would react. But Rey could see there was guilt in his expression.

Ben stared at him blankly for an uncomfortable moment before responding, “Luke.”

Rey looked between them with some discomfort. But she also recognized how silly this seemed. Her boyfriend and her Watcher were standing off in the middle of the magic store, with the Slayer between them in a town disproportionally riddled with demons. Perspective was important in these kinds of situations.

They stood in silence for a beat before Rey decided to intercede.

“Ben’s going to help me and Rose with the incantation tonight.”

Luke’s gaze flicked to her and his expression changed to one of excitement.

“You always were particularly gifted with magic.”

Ben’s gaze narrowed further. “Yes, I recall.” He wasn’t giving an inch to Luke’s attempts at civility. His expression was still closed off, blank. Luke’s excitement dulled in response and his smile dropped.

“Well,” he said gruffly and cleared his throat. “Let me know if you need anything, Rey,” he said turning to her. He cast his eyes to Ben once more before he made his way out of the magic shop.

Ben didn’t move, he stood where he was, his gaze unfocused. But his hands shook.

“Well… that wasn’t so bad was it?” she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Ben scoffed, but his eyes softened, and his shoulders relaxed.

After that first interaction, things progressively became easier. Ben slowly became more involved with Rey’s friends, offering assistance and support more and more often. He still avoided Luke for a while, but eventually he had to come to terms with the fact that Luke was a constant in Rey’s life. Though no words were exchanged, a truce of sorts was enacted between them. They interacted when necessary, nothing more and nothing less.

It took a few months, but with Ben being so involved with Rey and her friends, both socially and with slaying, it was hard for him to avoid his uncle or the impact he had as a Watcher, not only on Rey, but on the rest of her friends.

Rey tried to be as neutral as possible, knowing it wasn’t her place to insist that Ben resolve his differences with his uncle. She knew Luke had caused him pain in the past, and she wasn’t the most forgiving person in that department either.

Rey tried to broach the subject as delicately as possible some weeks later. It was April at this point, she and Ben had been dating for almost three months.

“Do you think you and Luke will ever get along?” she asked. She was trying to be delicate, but it came out suddenly and felt loud in the quiet room.

She was sitting on his bed in his dorm room reading for her English class and he was at his desk working on an essay. Between classes, patrols, and demonic research, they only had so much free time to spend together, and so study and homework sessions were added into the rotation.

He sighed and turned away from his laptop, knowing this wasn’t an idle conversation. She closed her book.

He leaned back in his chair, legs stretched forward with as he rubbed his forehead as if to rub out an oncoming headache.

“I don’t know.” He seemed conflicted on the matter. “I… I don’t like how you and our friends feel like they have to walk on eggshells around me whenever Luke is brought up.”

Ben kept talking before she could interrupt to apologize. “It’s no one’s fault. I know I’ve made it weird. I just don’t know how to deal with him now after spending so long hating him.”

Despite his uncertainty, he made the effort for Rey as much for himself. Her concern made him realize how much it affected her to have her mentor and her boyfriend at odds. And she saw the stress he was placing on himself to maintain the distance between himself and his uncle.

Ben had to swallow his pride and approach Luke.

To Rey’s surprise, Ben chose to accompany her to a meeting with everyone—including Luke.

“You’re sure?” she asked, before they exited his dorm room. They had been “studying” again that evening. More and more, their studying turned to making out messily on his bed.

He insisted he was ready with a resolute nod.

At the library that night, everyone watched in silent surprise as Ben entered with Rey. Luke tried to mask his own shock and carry on with the evening as if nothing were different.

Despite an awkward and stilted start, Ben meshed into the group as naturally as any of them. Ben easily fell into routine with Rey and the rest of her friends. Patrolling cemeteries, tracking demons and other supernatural beings, researching through Luke’s vast library. Ben even had access to several databases and archives at UC Sunnydale that expanded their resources immensely.

While they all became a well-oiled machine, Rey still grew more stressed about the future. Where did she belong? She’s the Slayer, what other life is there for her? While her friends go off the college, find careers, get married, have kids—the whole nine yards—where would that leave her? High school was hard enough to manage, how will college fair? How could she have a career or life outside of being the slayer? Most didn’t live long enough to make a life outside of fighting evil, but Rey didn’t want this to be all she had. She wanted more.

Senioritis was affecting her in a unique way and she found it hard to voice the thoughts that had plagued her for quite a while.

But Ben noticed. He could see when these anxieties invaded her mind. And he was patient with her, letting her pull her thoughts together on her own time before finally purging them. Sharing her worries with Ben so she didn’t have to bear the burden alone. And when she did finally open up about her anxieties and fears, he helped her. Offered reassurance, comfort, solace. He couldn’t solve every problem for her, but offered her a shoulder to lean on.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he assured her. “And your friends love you way too much to just up and leave.”

“I know that logically. But slaying is my life. My job. They can’t dedicate themselves to this forever.”

“Says who?”

She looked at him dumbfounded.

“They could join the Watchers Council, they could find work in libraries, archives, museums, research. Any number of fields that would be relevant to their interests and helping you.”

“But they shouldn’t have to,” she tried to explain. No one should have to be in danger because of her.

“What if they want to?” He raised his eyebrows.

Rey couldn’t respond to that.

Despite all her friends had done for her over the past four years, it was always surprising when someone actually stuck by her and offered their support. That not everyone was ready to leave her at a moment’s notice. That someone wanted to stay because of her.

It was May and Rey was a little nervous about prom.

Prior to dating Ben, prom wasn’t even on her radar. She assumed she’d scour the local thrift store for a dress or wait for a sale at the mall, do her own hair and make-up, not bother with finding a date, and rent a limo with her friends.

Having a boyfriend didn’t change her expectations or ambivalence towards prom. But it changed her friends’.

“You have to ask him!” Kaydel looked at Rey as if it was a matter of life and death. And Rey knew better than anyone that it wasn’t.

“I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to go to prom before. I don’t think it’s a big deal.”

Kaydel recruited their friends to pester her about it until she finally caved. Rose went so far as to plan an entire “promposal” scenario and present it to Rey as if it were a business pitch, complete with slides and a proof of concept handout. It was a rudimentary drawing of two stick figures labeled with Rey + Ben = <3.

So, Rey plucked up her courage and asked him.

“Do you own a suit?” she asks without segue one day over lunch.

Ben was mid-bite and looked at her with big eyes as he put his sandwich down and wiped his face with a napkin.

“Uh, yes.”

“Okay, good.”

“And what is the occasion, might I ask?”

“Oh, just prom,” she replied off-handedly, as if she weren’t a little nervous.

He looked at her with the same wide brown eyes.

Rey’s nerves increased. “I can’t tell if you look scared or excited.”

Ben gave the hint of an embarrassed smile as his ears turned red. “Surprised,” he said quietly, looking down at his food.

“Oh.” Rey wasn’t sure how to respond.

“I never went to my own prom. No one asked me, and I didn’t really have a close friend group,” he’d explained. Rey was glad she could give him this first. And maybe a few others.

So, Rey found a dress—a cute mauve, strapless number that was cinched at the waist and gathered at the small of her back. And she did her hair and make-up in her tiny, cramped bathroom—her hair pulled half-up into an intricate knot with the rest laying over her shoulders and a few pieces framing her face.

Ben picked her up in front of the motel in an old restored white Thunderbird. He blushed when he saw her and kissed her cheek in greeting, before placing the traditional corsage over her wrist. She pinned the matching boutonniere to his lapel.

“There’s one more thing,” he added, reaching into the glove compartment of his car. He pulled out a CD case. Inside was a disk and in the most ornate calligraphy Rey has ever seen is her name.

“Did you make me a mix CD?” she asked, flattered.

Colour rose on his cheeks as he nodded. “It’s just a few songs I thought you might like and a few we listened to before at Big Ear Records. It’s okay if you don’t like them or anything, I can—”

She cut him off with a smile and threw her arms around his neck. His hands came around her waist without hesitation.

She kissed his cheek as they separated. “Thank you, Ben.”

Upon arriving at the Sunnydale Hunt and Country Club, they were immediately met by their friends. Rose is accompanied by Hux, who she convinced to attend despite his assertion that high school dances were too mundane for him. Rose had him wrapped around her finger and they both knew it. Finn had finally asked Poe out since he was entirely in denial that Finn would ever be interested in him. Kaydel was going stag, fully intent on enjoying dancing with whoever she so chose for any given song.

They all took photos on disposable cameras inside and outside the fancy country club, during dinner, while they danced, while they goofed around on the outskirts of the room. After hours of laughing with her friends and even spending time with the classmates who made fun of them and the ones they ignored up until then (it was strange how graduation showed how little these social boundaries of high school mattered now that they were all leaving), the dance was over.

After already eating a catered dinner of dry chicken, overcooked vegetables, and what Ben suspected was grocery store slab cake, Poe declared after the final song of the night that they were headed straight for the Doublemeat Palace before heading to his family beach house.

Rey never said no to food. She ordered a double bacon cheeseburger, large fries, and a chocolate milkshake. Ben on the other hand ordered a sensible chicken salad, but still ended up steeling fries off her tray anyway, despite her attempts to slap his hands away. Still in their formal wear, the seven of them were piled into a corner booth, eating their greasy fast food and enjoying the late night out on what was for most of them one of their last nights at high school seniors.

On the way to the beach house, Rey and Ben followed Poe’s station wagon with the windows down and the radio blaring loud enough to hear over the wind. Rey relished the cool breeze flowing into the car as she and Ben held hands and sang along to the top forty songs. Despite the impending finality of graduation, Rey had never felt more at ease celebrating her senior year with her closest friends and handsome boyfriend.

Poe’s family beach house was a five-minute walk from Alderaan Beach, which Rey was especially excited for. The two-storey property had plenty of guest rooms, as well as a large fenced backyard complete with a fire-pit and hot tub on a tiled patio.

The high heels had been kicked off much earlier in the night, but as soon as they entered the beach house Rey made a beeline for the nearest bedroom, pulling Ben behind her. She wanted to make it clear where he’d be staying the night and also get out of this dress. She dropped her bag on the bed and began rifling through for a change of clothes. Ben stood somewhat awkwardly at the side of the room. Rey was too preoccupied with getting into more comfortable clothes to pay much mind. She traipsed over to the ensuite and immediately started stripping out of her clothes. She had been mostly comfortable throughout the evening, but it was a relief to put on joggers and a baggy t-shirt.

She piled all off her hair into a bun and scrubbed her make-up off with a wet hand towel. Examining herself in the mirror, she willed her anxieties to stay under the surface. She was determined to enjoy the rest of the night, even if she had to make a concentrated effort to do so.

Ben and Rey walked out the living room together and he carved out a spot for them on the large sectional in the middle of the room where everyone else was spread out with snacks and drinks, ready to begin their movie marathon.

Ben scooted over to leave room for her between him and the armrest of the couch. She smiled as she sat beside him, swinging her legs into his lap as she leaned against the armrest. He happily massaged her claves as they lounged on the couch, watching terrible movies and laughing with their friends.

Eventually, as the night turned into early morning, their friends began to call it a night, leaving Rey and Ben alone in the living room at 3 AM. At some point in the night, Rey had slid fully into Ben’s lap, resting her head on his chest as he enveloped her in his arms and leaned his chin on her head. Turning to him then now that they were alone, their faces were barely an inch apart. Without hesitation, their mouths met. Rey turned fully in his lap and straddled his legs, pressing herself more fully into the kiss. Her hands were in his hair while his were on her waist and cradling her neck. He suddenly pulled her flush against him, bringing her hips down and pressing their chests together. Rey moaned into the contact and found herself grinding her hips into his. She pulled back to look at him and seeing his smoldering gaze, a decision solidified in her mind. She pressed one more kiss to his lips, slowly this time, and grabbing his hand, crawled off of him. She led him down the hall to their room and sat him on the bed. She quickly made her way to the CD player on the nearby dresser and queued up the CD he had made her.

Circling back to her boyfriend, she straddled his lap once more and they resumed their previous activities. Before she knew it, Ben rolled them onto the bed without breaking their kiss. She was underneath him as he opened up her mouth and bit at her lower lip.

Rey was barely conscious of the music playing in the background—so focused on the feel of Ben’s mouth, his hands holding her arms down on either side of her head, his hips pressed into hers—she didn’t clue into what songs he put on the mix CD until she heard a familiar kick-drum thump out a steady beat. Ben kissed down her neck as she listened for a moment.

_You let me violate you_

_You let me desecrate you_

_You let me penetrate you_

_You let me complicate you_

She then started to laugh. It was Closer by Nine Inch Nails. She raised her eyebrows at him a he hovered over her, concern flashing through his eyes. “Had big plans for tonight, huh?” she asked.

He blushed and shook his head. “I just thought you liked the song.”

“I do,” she reassured him, her smile turning soft. Looking at him hovering above her, his arms on either side of her face, his weight pressed against her, she felt her smile slip as she pulled his mouth back to hers.

Soon enough they were both naked, with Ben slowly kissing down her neck to her collarbones, breasts—where he stayed for several moments—before reaching her hips. He pressed a kiss to each of her hipbones before looking up at her in a silent question. Rey was too far gone to manage words and simply nodded through her heavy breathing. He smiled before moving to the apex of her thighs.

He lapped at her cunt like a man who had found an oasis in the middle of the desert.

It didn’t take much for Rey to come. Ben was supremely thorough with his tongue, lips, and fingers. After he latched his mouth onto his clit, sucking vigorously as he crooked his fingers inside her, she came with a barely held high-pitched moan. As she came down, Ben crawled back up to her and she pulled him into a passionate kiss. She could taste herself on his mouth and became even more turned on. She could feel how hard he was against her stomach as their hips began to move against each other.

“Condom?” Rey mumbled against his lips.

He nodded, his tongue still tangled with hers. He went to pull away, but Rey still had her fingers gripped in his hair, holding his mouth to hers. He laughed at the whine she let out as he finally pulled away to reach for his bag beside the bed. He was half bent over the edge rummaging through the pockets and Rey took the moment to catch her breath. And to admire his figure lying over her. His defined obliques that formed the cut of his hips, his broad back and the firm muscles that spanned his shoulders and arms. His toned ass. He wasn’t even touching her, and she was getting wet again.

Ben let out a triumphant sound as he found what he was looking for. He ripped open the foil packet and rolled the condom over himself as Rey leaned back on her elbows and watched him with half-lidded eyes.

He looked up at her watching him and leaned in once more to kiss her. This time it wasn’t frantic and passionate, but slow and sultry. His lips worked against her gently but with purpose, his hand cradling her neck and her jaw.

“Are you sure?” he asked, pulling back to look in her eyes.

They had talked about sex before. As their relationship progressed and things became more and more physical, Rey had stopped a particularly passionate make-out session that resulted in them both being half-naked to admit her lack of experience. She had told him she was a virgin, half out of embarrassment and half out of the need for full disclosure. She wasn’t ready to have sex with him just then and didn’t want to give the impression that she was. And he was honest in return, surprising her by admitting that he was a virgin, too.

“Wait, really?” Rey had asked in surprise.

“Uh, yeah.” Ben seemed confused by her question.

“I hadn’t expected that.”

“I wasn’t exactly popular in high school and I don’t really go out much.”

“I met you at a party and I’ve seen you at the Bronze,” she replied, dubiously.

“That was only when Hux used to drag me along. I haven’t gone to any parties since we met…” he trailed off, almost embarrassed, his warm eyes soft and a blush colouring his ears and cheeks.

Rey looked at his whiskey brown eyes now as he hovered above her and saw the same softness—along with the evident desire. Rey didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

He kissed her again and slowly pressed into her. She felt the delicious pressure of his thick cock as it stretched her open. Soon, he was fully seated inside her and they both let out a surprised and pleased breath. Laughing softly, she kissed him again as they began to move. Their hips met with each thrust, his cock sliding against her walls, his pubic bone pressing against her clit.

Their breaths grew heavier and the thrusts grew harder as they both reached for their climax. Ben began to leave biting kisses on her neck down to her collarbones, before latching his mouth onto her tits. The extra stimulation was all it took to throw her over the edge again. She came even harder this time, pulsing around his cock and bringing on his own orgasm.

“Fu-fuck,” he stuttered, his hips moving even faster against her, before stalling on the final thrust as he moaned over her.

Sweaty and out of breath, he collapsed over her, his head burrowed in her neck. They laid there as they caught their breath. Rey ran her hands through his hair for a moment before Ben rolled over and pulled her into his arms.

They fell asleep like that and woke only a few hours later in the late morning to loud knocks on their door the next morning along with the teasing voices of their friends, who knew full-well what Rey and Ben had done that night.

Rey smiled despite them and buried her head against Ben’s chest as they both laughed.

A short week later, graduation day had finally arrived, and Rey was nervous. She had been both looking forward to and dreading this day all year. Waking up that morning, her trepidation solidified in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t tell if it was her own nerves and anticipation for the day ahead or her intuition warning her of something.

Either way, she had a bad feeling about this.

Rey tried to shake herself of the feeling and approach the day with positivity. This was a major milestone for her and her friends, something to be proud of and to celebrate. There were so many moments over the past four years where she wasn’t sure she would make it, but she’d persevered with the support of her friends, and she was determined to look at the glass half-full.

Dressed in the nicest dress she could afford from the Sunnydale Mall that Rose and Kaydel helped her pick out a few weeks ago—it was cream and knee-length with a floral pattern—Rey walked into the Sunnydale High gymnasium to collect her cap and gown. Her friends were already there, and she’d be meeting up with Ben in the courtyard after the ceremony.

Pulling on the graduation garb, she quickly made her way to her appointed spot in alphabetical order. Looking up and down the lines, she spotted Poe and Kaydel together a few lines over talking animatedly. Further down her own line was Finn, who she managed to catch his attention of with a wave. And Rose was toward the end of the last line, a grin on her face as she talked to the girls beside her.

Rey tried to be exited for her friends. She matched their smiles for one of her own, but it felt fragile and forced.

Soon, they made their way through the procession, walking out to the courtyard and to their seats. On a small stage set-up in the middle of the yard was their faculty, including Luke. Principle Mothma approached the microphone to begin her address to the graduating students.

But without warning, the earth under their feet began to shake. Earthquakes weren’t uncommon to the region, but Rey was certain that the tension in her gut wasn’t from the motion, but something much more sinister.

The ground beneath the stage seemed to tremble as the teachers descended the steps for safety and no sooner did they move to solid ground than the stage sunk into the ground, as if a giant mouth opened up to chew and swallow it into the depths of Hell.

And out of that mouth erupted a creature. A monster, the likes of which Rey had never seen. It was serpentine, with massive jaws with rows of jagged, sharp teeth.

Everyone scattered across the courtyard in a panic, yelling erupted, chairs were thrown back in a rush, people tripped over each other in their haste. It was utter chaos.

Before the crowd could clear, the demon struck. It launched its head forward at Principle Mothma, catching her in its jaws and swallowing her whole.

Rey scanned the crowds frantically for her friends. Before she knew it, Ben was beside her, leading her out of the way.

“Rey, we need to get out of here!”

But then she spotted Poe. He was the closest of her friends to the stage, but instead of scrambling to save himself like most, he’s helping his fellow classmates off the ground and getting them to safety. Despite his efforts, he’s knocked to the ground in the confusion and waves of people, pushing him within range of the demon.

As it prepared to strike, Finn pulled him up and away. Rey ran to them with Ben on her heals, helping Finn pull a limping Poe whose face was pinched in agony out of the quickly emptying courtyard and away from the demon.

At the closest doors stood Luke, waving them into the nearest entrance urgently. Even he looked shaken and Rey felt ice in her veins.

While most of the students and faculty have rushed through to school to the front exit, Luke and her friends veer to the other side of the school to the library. There’s nowhere Rey would feel safer than the familiar space where they’ve solved every supernatural mystery and defeated every foe. And they would need all of the knowledge and weapons they could get their hands on.

Bursting through the library doors, they were a wave of organized chaos, getting into action immediately. Rey made a beeline for the weapons locker hidden in a side storage room, pulling out anything and everything she could get her hands on.

Kaydel was helping Finn with Poe’s ankle. They had him seated with his leg propped up on another chair where she had a first-aid kit open. It was swollen and bruised already, likely broken or severely sprained. Meanwhile, Luke strode directly to his office, gathering an armful of old tomes and spreading them out haphazardly on the large study table in the centre of the room.

“How did I miss this?” he seemed to be speaking more to himself than to his students.

“What do you mean?” Ben asked, scanning the books in front of them.

Luke didn’t seem to hear him. “Why didn’t I see this coming?” he muttered in frustration as he flicked vigorously through the leather-bound tome in front of him.

Rose had tears running down her face as she determinedly pulled out the first book she could get her hands on from Luke’s pile, pushing away the shock and panic. She needed a task, something to do, otherwise she was sure she would break down fully.

“What are we looking for, Luke?” Ben asked again, almost desperately.

He finally looked up at his students. “The Hellmouth.”

They all stopped and stared at him.

“The what?” Rey asked, striding to the table with her hands full of weapons—crossbow, scythe, even a broadsword across her back, and a set of daggers strapped to her thigh.

“Sunnydale sits on the literal jaws of hell—a portal between Earth and the dimensions of Hell. It explains why it’s been such a hotspot for demonic activity. I’ve read about it before, I just didn’t realize it could be _here_.”

“Okay, well how do we destroy it?”

Luke growls in frustration. “I don’t know. Nothing I’ve found has any reliable answers. There are just too many variables.” He was leaning over the desk, propped up with one arm as he continued to hurriedly flick through the books in front of him. But he looked up then, an almost desperate expression on his face. “We need more time,” Luke intoned.

“How exactly do we stall a 10-foot-tall hell beast while you read some books?” Poe asked.

“You’re not doing anything with your ankle like that,” Finn interjected with a stern look.

“We’re not completely helpless,” Rose sniffed. Her tears had dried and she was at her best with a problem to solve. “Ben and I have been working on some advanced spellwork. Rey and Kaydel have been training nearly every day. We have options.”

“Kaydel, are you ready?” Rey usually preferred to work alone when it came to the big bads they faced. Her friends were at greater risk than her, not having the same strength, stamina, or reflexes. But Kaydel wanted to learn and feel useful to the group, and Rey couldn’t find a way to keep saying no.

Now, with the reality of actually fighting a demon alongside Rey, Kaydel tried not to look nervous. She swallowed down her nerves and closed her eyes for a moment. Looking back up to Rey, she had a determined glint in her eyes. She nodded, grabbing the sword from Rey’s hands.

Finn looked on, torn between staying with Poe and following the girls to the courtyard. Poe raised his eyebrows at him.

“You better not be thinking of staying here.”

Finn gave him a small smile, kissed the top of his head and followed Rey and Kaydel out of the library.

Rey stopped at the doorway letting them go ahead of her, feeling a pull to turn around. Looking over her shoulder, she met Ben’s eyes.

They shared a look and for a split-second Rey felt as though she could hear his thoughts voiced in her own mind. _Come back_. Rey nodded at him with a soft smile. _I will_ , she thinks, determined not to make this a goodbye.

Ben turned back to the table after Rey walked out of eyesight. He knew she wass more than capable of taking care of herself, but this was unlike anything they had ever faced before, in scale or in power.

“Let’s get to work.”

They each took a book, some frayed with crumbling pages of papyrus, others stiff with disuse. They scanned the pages for any mention of the Hellmouth, checking for information that corresponded to the astrological coordinates of the time and place. Many of the texts were prophetic, describing the when and where of the Hellmouth’s opening. Some were tales of the previous times the Hellmouth has emerged, when and where, the horrors that accompanied it. Many accounts they dismiss, as the demons described bared no resemblance to the serpent-like creature they saw emerge from the ground. Very few of the sources they had at their disposal gave any answers on how to close the Hellmouth and destroy the connection between this dimension and the next.

Until Rose managed to find one accurate description. “Oh no,” she’d whispered, as she gazed at the alarmingly detailed pen and ink illustration.

They were in trouble.

Out in the courtyard, the demon was terrorizing the remaining ceremony attendees. There were limbs strewn in the grass in front of the pit where the beast’s remained, half-emerged from the ground.

Rey, Kaydel, and Finn approached carefully. They crept close to the wall of the school as Rey formulated the plan.

“I’ll go around the front to distract it. Kaydel approach from behind and Finn you cover her with the crossbow and lead those two out of the way,” she said indicating to the remaining graduation attendees just out of reach of the demon. They each nodded, listening intently to Rey’s orders like soldiers going into battle. She supposed they almost were.

“Be careful,” she added in warning. Of course, they knew to be careful, but she felt responsible for their wellbeing. If Rey had it her way, no one else would have to be put in danger to fight this thing.

They spread out across the courtyard, with Rey circling to the front of where the demon was snapping at the couple cowering behind a row of chairs, too terrified to run.

“Hey!” she called out, hoping to pull the demon’s attention toward her instead.

It turned its head and bared its teeth with a sharp shrieking hiss.

Rey maintained eye contact, but in her periphery, she tracked the couple crawling out of the rows of chair toward Finn, who was waving them toward the closest entrance to the school.

Rey swung the scythe in her hands into a battle-ready position, gazing past the serpent to where Kaydel was carefully approaching from behind.

The demon lifted its head suddenly, no longer concerned with Rey. Its massive jaws opened again, revealing rows of uneven jagged fangs.

Like it was grinning at her.

Suddenly the earth tremored again and the ground split all across the yard, where vine-like tentacles burst through, bodies lined with sharp thorns and ending with serpentine jaws. Like a demonic Venus flytrap. They were all over the courtyard, smaller extensions of the ten-foot tall demon at the centre of it all.

“Shit,” Rey muttered.

In the library, Rose and the other stared in disgust at the all too detailed pen and ink illustration in the leather-bound book. The image depicted the exact demon that was currently terrifying the courtyard. Around it were bodies strewn across what appeared to be a town square. In addition to the demon were vine-like creatures with more human bodies clamped in their jaws, some tearing limbs, other impaling them on sharp thorns. A river of blood poured down the cobblestone detailed street, flowing out in unnaturally even, straight streams.

Rose began to read aloud as the others gathered to look at what she’d found.

“The Gatekeeper and its spawn will emerge when the Sun reaches the highest point in the sky on the Summer Solstice. The people’s blood shall flow like rivers over the land, opening the door between worlds. The mouth of Hell will open its jaws and swallow the world whole.” She swallowed before reading the last sentence. “It will be Hell on Earth.”

Rose stared at the book in horror as silence fell over the group.

“Today is the summer solstice,” Luke says quietly.

Before anyone could formulate a response or Poe could make a charming quip to defuse the tension, the ground began to shake again. Rose looked up from the pages, her eyes widening further. They were running out of time. Because she was certain that meant the demon spawn had already sprouted.

“We need to contain the demon, or these things,” she said pointing at the book “will end up all over town.”

That snapped Ben into action. “There must be some protection spells we can do, Rose.” He strode into Luke’s office, searching for something in particular.

He pulled out a small book bound in calfskin. It was much smaller than the others they’d been pouring over and not quite as old. It was embossed with a floral design with remnants of gold-leaf and on the cover in an intricate script read “Amidala”.

Luke looked surprised that Ben chose that book in particular.

Rose looked curious, having never seen that spellbook before.

Ben answered her silent question. “My grandmother’s grimoire.” He carefully opened it and began to scan for the spell he was looking for, ignoring Rose’s surprised expression.

Ben hadn’t told anyone about his family’s background in magic, nor the curse that fell upon the Skywalker line. There were more pressing matters at hand.

Ben soon found the spell he was looking for. With Rose and Luke’s help, they were able to cast a protection charm, a fairly strong one. Chanting the words, the magic flowed through them, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“We won’t be able to cast it over the entire town. The school grounds will have to do,” Luke conceded.

“What about the demon?” Poe asked.

“I’ve found a containment spell,” Rose called out urgently. “I think this could work.”

The spell was complex, requiring all four of them to recite each section simultaneously. Poe was hesitant, not being well-versed nor very skilled in magic, but he followed Luke’s instruction as closely as possible.

They stood around the table, each reciting their part as the magic moved through them. Ben felt their intention cast into the world as they each finish the last word.

There was a pause. “Did we do it? Did it work?” Rose asked, with careful optimism.

The ground shifted again, shaking harder than before. The movement continued, getting stronger and stronger as something moved closer and closer to the library.

“I don’t think it worked,” Poe said with wide eyes. They heard a guttural shrieking in the distance, louder than any time before. “And I think we made it angry.”

In the courtyard, a vine burst through the ground directly in front of Rey. She didn’t hesitate to strike it down. She swung her scythe in a wide arc, effectively cutting it in half but not before it let out an ear-piecing scream, alerting its brethren to its demise.

More vines emerged around Rey, surrounding her. She moved between them, darting out of the way of their striking mouths as she swung with her scythe.

It seemed like every vine they cut down, another emerged. The demon shrieked every time, as if wounded itself, but it felt futile, nonetheless.

Until one got a little too close for comfort, snapping its jaws only a few inches from her face as she caught it against the handle of her scythe. Another vine began to push out from the earth behind her. She couldn’t hold off the slobbering jaws in front of her and protect herself from the new ones cropping up around her.

Looking around, Rey found an opening. She moved quickly, sidestepping and ducking out from in front of the demon, using its leverage against itself. It lurched forward, its jaws clamping around the newly emerged vine in front of it. Rey swung her scythe against them both, decapitating them in one fell swoop.

She heard a yell from across the yard, where Kaydel was facing three vines blocking her path to Finn, who was struggling against five of his own.

Rey couldn’t run across the yard in time, so she threw her scythe. It spun in tight circles, slicing through the vines in front of Finn and landing across the yard.

But another demon burst through the ground directly behind Finn and before he could turn around it clamped its jaws into his shoulder.

“Finn!” she yelled.

He howled in pain, dropping the crossbow in his hand. Grabbing a bolt from the quiver hanging at his side, he pulled in a pained breath through his teeth. He slammed the bolt into the head of the vine, its teeth now sunk deep into his shoulder. It let go with a shriek, its teeth releasing his shoulder in a wave of relief and then excruciating pain. Finn breathed hard as he staggered away, to where Kaydel grabbed him and led him to safety, scanning their surroundings with her sword held out in front of her. Rey ran up to them, grabbing her scythe and covering their other side.

The remaining vines had been cut down and no more were emerging in their wake, but the ground began to tremble again as the demon shrieked suddenly.

“What fresh hell is this going to be?” Kaydel asks rhetorically. They were sore, breathing hard, covered in dirt and sweat, their nice graduation clothes stained and torn. Rey wasn’t sure how much longer they could take this demon without more help.

The ground began to move, dirt, clay and rocks shooting up from the ground and piling together to bury the demon. It struggled against the restraints, but more and more earth and rocks slammed into it, forming a large pile in the middle of the courtyard.

Rey held her breath. Did they do it? Did they get the spell right?

Before they could even exhale in relief, the demon burst back through the ground, spraying them with dirt and rocks. It shrieked with rage, its teeth bared once more. But instead of lunging for Rey and her friends, its sunk back down into the ground, the earth trembling around it as it moved. The ground split across the yard as it moved underground, headed directly toward the centre of the school. It was on the move now.

Fear sunk into the pit of Rey’s stomach. There’s only one place in the school where the demon could have any reason to go to.

“The library,” she whispers under her breath.

The entire school was shifting under their feet as they race toward the library. Bursting through the doors, they found Ben, Rose, Luke, and Poe already at work.

She and Ben made eye contact and look each other over, both of them confirming the other is in one piece before getting right to work.

“What can we do?” Rey asked.

“We’ve found the right spell, but it’s… a little tricky,” Rose replied.

“What she’s not saying is that it’s the most complex spell Luke has ever attempted,” Poe added.

The library continued to shake and books fell out of their shelves all around them as Luke examined the spell.

“Our protection spell can only hold for so long,” Ben urged.

“I’m missing an ingredient,” Luke looked around the table at the many vials and jars spread out in front of him.

“What do you need?”

“Corellian gold,” he sighed, opening jars and containers in a frantic search.

Ben stilled on the other side of the table, seemingly debating something. He moved into action suddenly, pulling the chain from round his neck. He pulled the gold dice off and handed them to Luke.

“Here.”

Luke looked at the dice in surprise. “Ben—”

“No, take them. We don’t have much time,” he insisted. His jaw was clenched, but he was determined.

Another tremor shook the building, forcing Luke to take the dice. He grasped Ben’s hand as he did, looking in his eyes for a moment and nodding in understanding.

“Help me set this up in the weapons room,” he called out to the group.

The tremors were growing in frequency and strength. Cracks emerged in the floor around them, drywall was crumbling to the ground, debris was falling from the ceiling.

Standing in a circle in the cramped weapons storage room, hands clasped, the six of them repeat after Luke who was kneeling in the middle of the circle with the tome open and a variety of objects in front of him.

He quickly lit three candles and began repeating foreign phrases in an unending string of strange syllables as he poured a vile of dark liquid into a clay bowl. From there he shook an aromatic powder into his hand, closed it into a fist before dropping it into the bowl. The liquid immediately began to bubble as the bookshelves dominoed to the floor with a loud crash. The lights flickered and fell from the ceiling and they were thrown in darkness, save for the candles on the floor. Luke continued regardless. He stirred the mixture slowly, counterclockwise, then clockwise, at seemingly random intervals. He cut open his palm and gripped Ben’s gold dice, blood dripping between his fingers, before dropping them into the bowl and finishing his chant.

A bright light exploded from the bowl—blinding them in light and seemingly pulling all sound from the world around them. They were cast into a white void of silence for what must only be a few seconds but felt unending. As the light faded and sound returned to their ears with a sharp ringing, they looked around themselves, unsure if it finally worked.

Coughing through the dust and smoke, they looked around warily. But the ground had stopped quaking beneath their feet, and everything was quiet.

It took several silent minutes for anyone to really move, but when they did, it was to hug each other with utter relief.

They were all a little worse for wear after.

Poe ended up with a bad break in his ankle, requiring a cast and a projected two months of rehab. Finn was sporting a sling for a torn ligament in his right shoulder. Kaydel was quite scratched up from the thorns of the demon vines, but mostly unscathed.

Luke barely made it out alive from graduation day. He lost a lot of blood, not only as a result of the spell, but from the head injury that followed when he passed out from the toll it took on him to carry it out. Rey was certain she was going to lose him then.

“If only it was that easy to get rid of me, kid,” he’d said with some mirth after regaining consciousness.

Healing from graduation day was going to take some time for them all. While they iced their bruises and tended their wounds, Rey’s deepest cut came in the form of guilt. Being the slayer placed an immense burden on her life and by extension her friends. If she’d never brought them all into this, they wouldn’t have felt the need to risk their lives.

Being the slayer was to be burdened. Rey wanted to be able to go to college, hang out with her friends, and go on dates, without this hanging over her head—to have a life that wouldn’t put her loved ones at risk.

After graduation day, Rey wasn’t the same.

And Ben was worried.

As much as her friends try to reassure her, she couldn’t help but drown in guilt. Ben tried to shoulder some of that burden with her, get her to open up about it and share her feelings. Instead, she fell into a depression.

He hated to see her this way and was determined to do something to help. She didn’t notice at first, the extensively detailed research notes he was taking, how he’d space out in the middle of a date with an intense expression on his face. He became obsessed.

He was working tirelessly to find a solution for her, though she didn’t know it.

It took a while to break her out of the foggy stupor she’d submerged herself in and take notice of the darker circles under his eyes, the redness around his tired eyes, the growing stubble on his face, the longer and messier mane of hair on his head. When she did, it became her turn to worry about him.

It all came to a head in the middle of an unseasonably cold Monday night in August. The school was empty, and Ben needed the to use the library to cast this incantation. It had all the necessary supplies at the ready.

He had the pentagram drawn in chalk on the floor, with the requisite runes drawn carefully around the containing circle. At each point of the star was a relic and a candle. It took him the better part of two months to find the right spell, discern its meaning, and acquire all of the supplies, but he would do anything to help Rey.

Sitting in the middle of the pentagram with the book in front of him, Ben began the incantation.

Learning under Luke’s tutelage at the academy, Ben had been somewhat of a prodigy. He had a natural ability when it came to magic, not to mention a family history, and he and Rose had been practicing together. He’d cast many spells over the years, some came easily, other were a challenge.

But this spell was unlike any he’d cast before.

Immediately, he felt like he was out of his element. He couldn’t get control of it. As soon as he felt he had a grasp on the magic and that the words flowed smoothly on his tongue, it would slip through his fingers and lose shape. The words would become clunky in his mouth, hard to form. He had to strain to maintain even the barest control over it all.

He tried not to panic. Sweat beaded on his brow and the air seemed too thin and burned in his lungs with every small inhale. His vision went fuzzy as he gasped for breath. He was losing his grip on the spell.

Ben yelled in agony as the magic completely slipped through his fingers. It burst out in waves, unleashed into the room and ingulfed him in the raw energy of its power.

Suddenly, someone else is in the pentagram with him, holding onto the book.

Luke began chanting alongside him, reshaping the magic and guiding it into the shape of the spell.

Ben felt his lungs inflate fully as he gasped for a full breath. His vision cleared and he was eye to eye with his uncle.

Over the noise, Ben could hear Rey behind them yelling their names.

Ben felt all of the energy leave him as soon as the spell was done. He exhaled in relief and exhaustion. Opening his eyes, Ben looked to his uncle in thanks. But Luke was collapsed on the floor, his eyes staring unseeing to the ceiling, his chest barely moving.

Luke had taken in the brunt of the spell, pulling all of the magic from Ben’s hands. And it had come at a cost.

Ben scrambled over him in a panic and Rey wasn’t far behind.

“Luke,” he said urgently. His uncle blinked blearily and his breath a strained wheeze, but he managed to form words.

“Ben… I’m sorry.”

He could do nothing but grasp his uncle’s shoulders and watch as his eyes glazed over and the life left them.

Ben broke down then.

Rey pulled him away and into her arms, offering comfort that he did not feel he deserved.

After what felt like minutes but was clearly hours later judging by the amount of sunlight pouring into the room, Ben found himself in Rey’s motel apartment, sitting on her bed.

He realized then how lucky he was that Rey noticed his absence and called Luke. While he had been worried about her, she had been worried about him.

“How’d you know where I was?”

“I didn’t. We searched the cemetery first, before I got Luke to do a tracking spell.”

Ben’s guilt continued to build as tears filled his eyes once more. “I’m so sorry, Rey.”

Her eyes were red and rimmed with tears as she shook her head sadly.

“it’s not your fault.”

They spend the rest of the day in her bed, both mourning the loss of a mentor and offering comfort to one another.

Despite not completing the spell himself, Ben felt certain that it had worked, that Luke wouldn’t have died if it hadn’t. But as time went on and nothing seemed to have changed, he was feeling less sure of himself. And even more guilty.

With the school closed for repairs, Rey and her friends didn’t have a central meeting place anymore. That was until Ben discovered that in his will Luke had left everything to Leia and Ben—including the modest Tudor-style home Luke lived in.

It was then that Rey finally met Ben’s mother.

Rey had faced many foes in her time, both before and after becoming the slayer: angry foster-siblings, uncaring guardians and social workers, evil vampires, demons of all shapes and sizes. She faced each and every one of these challenges with little fear. But meeting her boyfriend’s mother was an entirely different challenge all together. Leia was by no means her foe, but with the way her nerves were acting up, Rey felt like she was about to go into battle.

In the end, she had little to worry about. She may have been awkward and overly cheerful to compensate for her nerves, but Leia was warm and inviting—not nearly as intimidating as Rey had expected.

She greeted them with a smile at Luke’s house—now Ben’s—opening the door and ushering them in.

“I don’t know why my son has been hiding you away, but I am glad to finally meet you, Rey.” Leia had clasped both Rey’s hands in her soft, slightly wrinkled ones.

Rey looked to Ben with raised eyebrows, not even realizing that he’d told his mother about them. It shouldn’t have really, but without family of her own, Rey never really considered the idea that this was something one would share with their parents.

Rey couldn’t help but smile. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

They’d met up there, not only for Rey to finally meet Ben’s mother, but also to help Ben move in. Leia had decided to remain in the house she bought when they moved back to Sunnydale, leaving Ben to inherit everything—the house, the furnishings, all of Luke’s many books and artifacts. And they were in the middle of organizing some of Luke’s personal affects when Ben suddenly asked her a life-altering question.

“How would you like to move in here with me?”

While it may not have been life-altering for some, Rey was taken aback.

“Really?” she’d asked, surprise colouring her tone.

Ben’s nerves seemed to increase. He swallowed and worked his jaw slightly.

“Yeah, I mean… Then you don’t have to rely on the Council so much and there’s plenty of space here…” he trailed off, uncertain but hopeful as he looked at her with almost pleading eyes.

“You’re sure you’ll want—” Rey cut herself off and looked away, feeling all too vulnerable. She couldn’t admit that her instinct was the question whether he’d want her around long term.

Ben waited a moment, but when it became clear she wasn’t going to finish that thought, he closed the distance that separated them and took her hand.

“I’m not sure of anything, Rey,” his lips twitched a little, “except for you.”

And so not three days later, both Ben and Rey were moving their sparse belongings into the old Tudor-style house.

And a week after that, Amilyn Holdo from the Watchers Council stood in the living room talking with Leia. She had a well-coiffed purple bob haircut and distinctive lavender eyes.

After being introduced to Rey and Ben, she cut right to the chase. “It seems all of the potentials have awakened.”

“I… what?” Rey blinked at her.

She looked between Rey and Ben. “Was that not your intention?”

“I—I don’t…” Rey looked to her boyfriend, her mouth agape.

His expression mirrored her own. “I didn’t know what exactly would happen, but… yes, I guess so.”

Ben’s was relieved that the spell had actually worked. The book had been vague and hard to decipher, but he had hoped it would produce something useful.

Amilyn explained that a number of potential slayers had presented over the past few weeks and that they expect more to emerge as time went on.

“I just hope this is a sustainable growth. You should not have meddled in such things,” she added, looking to Ben with a stern glance. “There is a cost to everything.”

He swallowed and looked suitably admonished. He knew the cost.

“However,” she added. “I can’t say that having more than one Slayer is really a problem. It certainly makes it easier to manage demonic disturbances outside of one place. It does mean the Watchers Council has to rework our entire model of operations, but I suppose after hundreds of years we could do with an organizational restructuring.”

“What does this mean for me?” Rey asked, carefully.

“Well, it seems you have a couple options. We’d love for you to come help train the new crop of slayers and stay on with the Council. Otherwise, I suppose there’s early retirement.”

Rey blinked. “Retirement?”

“With so many other slayers awakened, you don’t have to continue if you don’t want to,” Amilyn offered.

Rey was stunned. She was so used to being the Chosen One. The one and only slayer, the world’s fate resting squarely on her shoulders. Sharing the burden with a few friends was one thing, but sharing it with a whole network of women just like her? It was unbelievable. And an utter relief.

But she wasn’t sure she was ready to give it all up just like that. Amilyn could see her weighing her options and trying to formulate a response.

“But… If I’m not the slayer, what would I do?” She’d never had the freedom to explore her options before and it was overwhelming to contemplate.

Ben clasped her hand in his. “We’ll figure it out.” She squeezed his hand gratefully.

“Together,” she added.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's more 90s than two teenagers losing their virginity to closer on prom night


End file.
